Bias circuits

ABSTRACT

A bias circuit for use in bandgap voltage reference circuits and temperature sensors comprises a pair of transistors (Q, Q2), the first of which (Q1) is arranged to be biased at an emitter current  lbias , and the second of which (Q2) is arranged to be biased at an emitter current of m.lbi as . The circuit is arranged such that the difference between the base-emitter voltages of the transistors is generated in part across a first resistance means having a value  Rbias  and in use carrying a bias current equal to  lbias  and in part across a second resistance means of value substantially equal to  Rbias/m  and in use carrying a current equal to the base current of the second transistor. This results in use in a bias current I bias  which, when used to bias a substrate bipolar transistor via its emitter, produces a collector current therefrom which is substantially PTAT and a base-emitter voltage which is substantially independent of the forward current gain of the substrate bipolar transistor.

The present invention relates to a bias circuit, and more particularly to a bias circuit for use in bandgap voltage reference circuits and temperature sensors, for example.

Bias circuits that generate a current proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) are widely used in integrated circuits. Their main application is in temperature-independent biasing of bipolar transistors (and CMOS transistors in weak-inversion). PTAT bias circuits are also used in bandgap voltage references, where a PTAT voltage is combined with the base-emitter voltage of a bipolar transistor to yield a temperature-independent reference voltage. Another application is in temperature sensors, where a PTAT voltage or current is used as a measure of temperature.

PTAT bias circuits, bandgap references and temperature sensors in CMOS technology are usually based on substrate bipolar transistors (FIG. 1). The collector of such transistors is formed by the substrate and is thus grounded. Therefore, such transistors are usually biased via their emitter, as shown in relation to transistor Q in FIG. 2, resulting in a collector current:

$\begin{matrix} {{I_{C} = {\frac{B_{F}}{B_{F} + 1}I_{bias}}},} & (1) \end{matrix}$ where B_(F) is the transistor's large-signal forward current-gain, and I_(bias) is the current applied to the emitter.

Thus, an undesired dependency on B_(F) is introduced in the base-emitter voltage:

$\begin{matrix} {{V_{BE} = {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{I_{C}}{I_{S}} \right)}} = {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( {\frac{I_{bias}}{I_{S}}\frac{B_{F}}{B_{F} + 1}} \right)}} = {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{I_{bias}}{I_{S}} \right)}} + {\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{B_{F}}{B_{F} + 1} \right)}}}}}},} & (2) \end{matrix}$ where k is Boltzmann's constant, q is the electron charge, T is the absolute temperature and I_(S) is the transistor's saturation current.

In older CMOS processes, B_(F) was rather large, so that the error term in (2) is small. For a typical B_(F) of 22 in 0.7 μm CMOS, the error is around 1 mV. With every new process generation, however, the typical value of B_(F) decreases (Table 1). For 0.18 μm the error has increased to about 14 mV.

TABLE 1 Typical values of the forward current-gain B_(F) of substrate pnp transistors, for various CMOS process generations. CMOS generation Typical B_(F)  0.7 μm 22  0.5 μm 8 0.35 μm 5.5 0.25 μm 1.5 0.18 μm 1.4

If B_(F) was temperature and process independent, the error term in (2) could be compensated for by scaling I_(bias) with a factor (B_(F)+1)/B_(F). However, B_(F) is strongly temperature dependent and varies from wafer to wafer. Thus, the dependency on B_(F) affects the spread and temperature dependency of V_(BE), and will do so more strongly with every new process generation, degrading the initial accuracy of bandgap references and temperature sensors.

A conventional CMOS PTAT bias circuit is shown in FIG. 3. Two matched substrate pnp transistors Q₁ and Q₂ are biased at a 1:m emitter-current ratio by transistors T₁ and T₂ where transistor T₂ is dimensioned so as to provide an m times larger drain current than transistor T₁, typically by constructing it from a parallel combination of m identical copies of T₁. Assuming that their current gain is current independent, their collector-current ratio will also be 1:m. As a result, the difference in base-emitter voltages will be:

$\begin{matrix} {{{\Delta\; V_{BE}} = {{V_{{BE}\; 2} - V_{{BE}\; 1}} = {\frac{kT}{q}{\ln(m)}}}},} & (3) \end{matrix}$ which is PTAT. By means of op-amp 10, the emitter of transistor Q₂ and the upper terminal of a resistor R_(bias) in series with the emitter of transistor Q₁ are kept at the same potential, so that the difference in base-emitter voltage ΔV_(BE) of transistors Q₁ and Q₂ is generated across the resistor R_(bias). As a result, the bias currents in the circuit are:

$\begin{matrix} {I_{bias} = {\frac{\Delta\; V_{BE}}{R_{bias}} = \frac{{kT}\;{\ln(m)}}{{qR}_{bias}}}} & (4) \end{matrix}$

If this bias current is applied to the emitter of transistor Q₃ by transistor T₃, which is matched to transistor T₁, and thus carries the same drain current, its collector current will not be PTAT due to its finite current gain B_(F), and as a result its base-emitter voltage V_(BE3) can be described by (2) and will be affected by spread and temperature-dependency of B_(F).

The present invention provides a bias circuit comprising a pair of transistors, the first of which is arranged to be biased at an emitter current I_(bias), and the second of which is arranged to be biased at an emitter current of m.I_(bias), the circuit being arranged such that the difference between the base-emitter voltages of the transistors is generated in part across a first resistance means having a value R_(bias) and in use carrying a bias current equal to I_(bias) and in part across a second resistance means of value substantially equal to R_(bias)/m and in use carrying a current equal to the base current of the second transistor.

This results in use in a bias current I_(bias) which, when used to bias a substrate bipolar transistor via its emitter, produces a collector current therefrom which is substantially PTAT and a base-emitter voltage which is substantially independent of the forward current gain of the substrate bipolar transistor. Thus, the bias circuit of the invention may be used in a high accuracy bandgap voltage reference circuit, or a high accuracy temperature sensor.

Preferably, the pair of transistors arranged to be biased at a 1:m emitter current ratio are substrate bipolar transistors. They may be matched bipolar transistors and may have unequal emitter areas.

In one embodiment, the value of the second resistance means is reduced by R_(base) (m−1)/m to counter effects due to the non-ideal non-zero base resistance R_(base) of the transistor pair.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a voltage reference circuit comprising a bias circuit embodying the invention as defined above, and a substrate bipolar transistor, wherein the bias current I_(bias) is used to bias the bipolar transistor via its emitter to produce a base-emitter voltage which is used to generate a substantially temperature-independent bandgap reference voltage.

Furthermore, the invention provides a temperature sensor including a bias circuit or voltage reference circuit embodying the invention as defined above.

A device and circuits of the prior art, and embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a known substrate pnp transistor in CMOS technology;

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating biasing of a substrate pnp transistor via its emitter in a known manner;

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of known PTAT bias circuit;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a PTAT bias circuit according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are graphs showing plots of base-emitter voltage against temperature for a transistor biased using the known circuit of FIG. 3, and the circuit according to an embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, respectively;

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a PTAT bias circuit according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a bandgap voltage reference circuit according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a temperature sensor according to a further embodiment of the invention.

A circuit diagram of a bias circuit embodying the invention is shown in FIG. 4. With an extra resistor R_(bias)/m in series with the base of Q₂, an expression for the bias current I_(bias) is given by the following equation:

$\begin{matrix} {{V_{{BE}\; 1} + {I_{bias}R_{bias}}} = {\left. {{{mI}_{bias}\frac{1}{1 + B_{F}}\frac{R_{bias}}{m}} + V_{{BE}\; 2}}\Rightarrow I_{bias} \right. = {\frac{1 + B_{F}}{B_{F}}\frac{\Delta\; V_{BE}}{R_{bias}}}}} & (5) \end{matrix}$

If this bias current is applied to the emitter of Q₃, its collector current will be:

$\begin{matrix} {{I_{C\; 3} = {{\frac{B_{F}}{1 + B_{F}}I_{bias}} = \frac{\Delta\; V_{BE}}{R_{bias}}}},} & (6) \end{matrix}$ which is PTAT. Thus, the current gain (B_(F)) does not affect the collector current. The substrate bipolar transistor is therefore biased at a PTAT collector current, rather than a PTAT emitter current (as is the case in the circuit of FIG. 3). The error term due to B_(F) in equation (2) disappears, making the transistor's base-emitter voltage independent of its current gain, and thereby reducing the spread in its absolute value and its temperature dependency.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the improvement in the dependency of V_(BE3) on B_(F). In these simulations, R_(bias) has a value of 200 kOhms, m=8 and R_(base) is around 500 Ohms.

In practice, in the improved circuit, there may be still some (small) residual dependency, which results from the non-zero base resistance R_(base) of the pnp transistors. The resistor in series with the base of Q₂ can be reduced by R_(base)·(m−1)/m to correct for the nominal value of R_(base), but due to the different temperature dependency of R_(bias) and R_(base), some dependency will remain. As long as R_(bias)>>R_(base), this dependency can be kept small, and an improvement of more than 10× is obtained.

As for known PTAT bias circuits, many variations on the improved circuit of FIG. 4 are possible. For instance, it is possible to use different emitter areas for Q₁ and Q₂. All variations have in common that an extra resistor of value R_(bias)/m is added in series with the base of the transistor with the highest emitter current density, where m is the ratio of the emitter currents of Q₁ and Q₂.

The accuracy of the circuit of FIG. 4 is limited by the offsets of the opamp 10 and the bipolar transistors. FIG. 7 shows a development of that circuit in which the contribution of these offsets is strongly reduced by means of chopping.

The circuit of FIG. 7 is formed by adding to the embodiment of FIG. 4 two way switches S₁, S₂, S₃ and S₄, one way switches S₅ to S₁₀, while the op-amp now consists of two stages, a fully-differential first stage 12 and a second stage 10. Voltage source V_(os) models the input-referred offset of these stages plus the offset of the bipolar transistors Q₁ and Q₂.

Switch S₁ is arranged to connect the source of transistor T₁ either (a) to the limb of the circuit including Q₁ (b) or the limb of Q₂, and S₂ operates in a complementary, opposite manner with respect to the source of transistor T₂.

Switch S₃ connects the opamp (via the offset source V_(os)) either to (a) the top terminal of resistor R_(bias1), or (b) the bottom terminal of resistor R_(bias1), which is also connected to the emitter of transistor Q₁.

Switch S₄ connects the opamp (via the positive input of its first stage 12) either to (a) the bottom terminal of resistor R_(bias2), which is also connected to the emitter of transistor Q₂, or (b) the top terminal of resistor R_(bias2).

Switches S₅ and S₆ cooperate such that either (a) the base of Q₁ is grounded and the resistor of value R_(bias)/m is connected between the base of Q₂ and ground, or (b) vice versa.

Switches S₇ to S₁₀ cooperate to either (a) connect the negative output of the first stage 12 to the positive input of the second stage 10, and the positive output of the first stage 12 to the negative input of the second stage 10, or (b) vice-versa.

With the switches in the drawn position, that is, alternatives (a) above, the base-emitter voltage of Q₃ is

$\begin{matrix} {{V_{{{BE}\; 3},1} = {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{{\Delta\; V_{BE}} + V_{os}}{R_{{bias}\; 1}I_{S}} \right)}} \cong {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{\Delta\; V_{BE}}{R_{{bias}\; 1}I_{S}} \right)}} + {\frac{kT}{q}\frac{V_{os}}{\Delta\; V_{BE}}}}}},} & (7) \end{matrix}$ where V_(os) models the combined offset of the op-amp and that of the bipolars. With the switches in the other position, that is, alternatives (b) above, the sign of the offset term changes:

$\begin{matrix} {{V_{{{BE}\; 3},2} = {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{{\Delta\; V_{BE}} - V_{os}}{R_{{bias}\; 2}I_{S}} \right)}} \cong {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{\Delta\; V_{BE}}{R_{{bias}\; 1}I_{S}} \right)}} - {\frac{kT}{q}\frac{V_{os}}{\Delta\; V_{BE}}}}}},} & (8) \end{matrix}$

The average between the two values is

$\begin{matrix} {{V_{{{BE}\; 3},{avg}} = {{\frac{kT}{2q}{\ln\left( \frac{{\Delta\; V_{BE}^{2}} - V_{os}^{2}}{R_{{bias}\; 1}R_{{bias}\; 2}I_{S}^{2}} \right)}} \cong {{\frac{kT}{q}{\ln\left( \frac{\Delta\; V_{BE}}{I_{S}\sqrt{R_{{bias}\; 1}R_{{bias}\; 2}}} \right)}} - {\frac{kT}{q}\frac{V_{os}^{2}}{2\Delta\; V_{BE}^{2}}}}}},} & (9) \end{matrix}$ which shows that the offset is reduced by a factor 2ΔV_(BE)/V_(os). If, for example, V_(os)=5 mV and ΔV_(BE)=kT/q ln(m)=60 mV, the offset on V_(BE3) is reduced from 2 mV to 0.09 mV.

The present invention may be applied to any bias circuit that generates a current proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT). Products that may utilise this invention include any circuits with bandgap references. This invention may also become particularly beneficial for designs in deep submicron CMOS technologies, where the B_(F) values of the substrate bipolar transistors continue to reduce.

FIG. 8 shows how a bias circuit embodying the present invention may be incorporated in reference circuit. The current-gain independent bias circuit 2 configured in accordance with an embodiment of the invention generates a bias current I_(bias). This current is supplied to the emitter of a bipolar transistor Q. A temperature-independent output voltage V_(REF) is generated by summation of the base-emitter voltage V_(BE) of the bipolar transistor Q and a PTAT voltage from PTAT voltage generator circuit 4. The latter compensates for the negative temperature coefficient of the former.

The bias circuit 2 may be used to generate the bias current I_(bias) needed for the bipolar transistor, especially if this transistor is a diode-connected substrate pnp transistor, such that the generated base-emitter voltage, and hence the generated output voltage, is insensitive to spread of the transistor's current gain and thus will have a higher initial accuracy.

FIG. 9 shows a smart temperature sensor circuit embodying the invention. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used to generate a digital representation of temperature “temp”. This converter essentially computes the ration of a temperature dependent voltage, such as a PTAT voltage V_(PTAT), to a temperature-independent reference voltage V_(REF). The latter can be generated in the same way as described above, and the bias circuit 2 may then be applied in a similar manner, so as to reduce the sensitivity of the reference voltage to spread of the current gain of the bipolar transistor Q used. The resulting improved initial accuracy of the reference voltage leads to an improved initial accuracy of the temperature sensor.

From reading the present disclosure, other variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. Such variations and modifications may involve equivalent and other features which are already known in the art, and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein.

Although Claims have been formulated in this application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure of the present invention also includes any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalisation thereof, whether or not it relates to the same invention as presently claimed in any Claim and whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as does the present invention.

Features which are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination. The Applicants hereby give notice that new Claims may be formulated to such features and/or combinations of such features during the prosecution of the present application or of any further application derived therefrom. 

1. A bias circuit comprising a pair of transistors (Q₁, Q₂) the first of which (Q₁) is arranged to be biased at an emitter current I_(bias), and the second of which (Q₂) is arranged to be biased at an emitter current of m.I_(bias), the circuit being arranged such that the difference between the base-emitter voltages of the transistors is generated in part across a first resistance means having a value R_(bias) and in use carrying a bias current equal to I_(bias) and in part across a second resistance means of value substantially equal to R_(bias)/m and in use carrying a current equal to the base current of the second transistor.
 2. A bias circuit of claim 1 wherein the pair of transistors (Q₁, Q₂) arranged to be biased at a 1:m emitter current ratio are substrate bipolar transistors.
 3. A bias circuit of claim 1 wherein the pair of transistors (Q₁, Q₂) arranged to be biased at a 1:m emitter current ratio are matched bipolar transistors.
 4. A bias circuit of claim 1 wherein the pair of transistors (Q₁, Q₂) arranged to be biased at a 1:m emitter current ratio have unequal emitter areas.
 5. A bias circuit of claim 1 wherein the value of the second resistance means is reduced by an amount substantially equal to R_(base) (m−1)/m to counter effects due to the non-ideal non-zero base resistance R_(base) of the transistor pair.
 6. A voltage reference circuit comprising a bias circuit (2) of claim 1, and a substrate bipolar transistor (Q), wherein the bias current I_(bias) is used to bias the bipolar transistor via its emitter to produce a base-emitter voltage which is used to generate a substantially temperature-independent bandgap reference voltage (V_(REF)).
 7. A temperature sensor including the circuit of claim
 1. 